Penn State Announces $1 Million Grant to New Child Abuse Center

This week PennsylvaniaStateUniversityannounced a $1 million grant to the new Center for the Protection of Children, created in the wake of the child sex abuse scandal at the school last year. The grant was awarded from football bowl revenues and is twice as large as was expected when the center was launched earlier this year. University President Rodney Erickson said the center is expected to be a national leader in clinical care, research, education and direction of policy related to child abuse and neglect. It will offer treatment for abused children and a primary care clinic for foster children. It also will sponsor research into the prevention, detection and treatment of abuse; offer training; provide advocacy; and collect data. The facility will be based at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital and bring together clinicians, scientists, legal scholars and educators. Its director, Dr. Andrea Taroli, said the project has an “ambitious agenda,” and that the additional funding will help it get off the ground more quickly.